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Oct 29, 2009

IF YOU ONLY HAD A BRAIN

It is getting to be that time of year again. There is snow at the higher elevations. A winter wonderland will soon be everywhere. Many people will get out their skis or snow mobiles or hiking packs and head on out to the mountainous areas. And like every year some of them will lose their lives. They will go into areas that are roped off and signed saying Out Of Bounds or Avalanche Area. Look, look at the fresh powder snow over there. The signs don't apply to me. I know how to ski, my machine is powerful enough to get me out of there.Or will they go for a day hike with only their light jacket and a bottle of water. No one knows their route. No one even knows sometimes that they have gone hiking.

My husband has encountered several idiotic people who were not prepared for the outdoors and had zero common sense while out there. One guy actually left the hillsides and went to the bar without telling his female companion. She hunted high and low for him for hours eventually getting some assistance from my husbands group. She was going to spend the night alone in an empty cabin to see if he would show up when someone found out he was cozy in the bar. I wonder what that car ride home was like?

Anyway people use some common sense. Out of Bounds means just that and yes it means you. Tell people where you are going when hiking and be prepared for the worst. Wear avalanche beacons and carry shovels and poles for rescuing. Take walkie talkies. Flares? Sure why not. Be like a boy scout and be prepared.

16 comments:

Oh, AMEN. I thought I was the only person who gets PISSED when I see stories like this. EVERY stinking year people get trapped on Mt. Hood and every stinking year people have to risk their lives to find them.

Timely post!! This is the year I am going to learn to ski, but rest assured, I will not graduate from the bunny hill anytime soon.

I take heart with your comments on the search and rescue people. It IS sad that they risk their lives to save so many sorry butts (!), and it makes me angry. As for the guy who left his wife while he sat in a warm bar, I hope they are no longer married.

I'm a firm believer that if you break the law...you are on your own...save yourself, and if you can't oh well. The only shame is that some of these people have already produced off spring before their demise.

The same battles used to go on when hikers went up arcadia mountain in maine. They just think they are immortal... until they slip off a mountain. Very sad when it can be easily avoided. Frustrating as well for those in survival rescue jobs. Great post and timely for the change of seasons. Hugs. Tammy

Obviously we don't have the issues with snow and avalanches here in Texas, but the number of people who insist on driving through floodwater is incredible. Whenever we get a frog strangler, low water crossings become impassable. And without fail, the news is full of people who tried to go through anyway. I'm with you, people who make idiotic decisions like this should have to pay for the rescue teams efforts. Good post! Kathy

You need a name for those people.Out here we call the people from the city who do dopey things citiots..I am all for charging people who don't heed the warning a fee to be rescued! Like those ice fisherman last year..what dopes!

Double Amen.No avalanches here, but as someone who grew up on Long Island and live in spongy New Jersey, floods and hurricanes are an issue. I remember how the police on the Island's south shore went door to door before one massive hurricane, asking people who didn't want to heed the evacuation orders for the names of their dentists so they could more easily identify their bodies after the storm thru dental records. They made it very clear that if they chose to stay in their homes, the authorities were not going to risk their personnel to rescue them, and they'd come back to fish out their bodies the next day. As I recall, that tactic was mighty effective; people evacuated.

It's time for people to get over themselves and follow the rules. Especially when not doing so endangers others. that's what really angers me; if they want to kill themselves, so be it. But the people who work in rescue jobs are selfless and heroic and don't need to be placed in harm's way unnecessarily. Whew. Rant over.Cass

Oh geez! Our version down here in the coastal sunny south is the dumbnuts who go surfing during a hurricane. Or the undertoe/rip current/jellyfish signs are put up & yet some dingleberry decides to take a leisurely swim in the ocean only to need rescuing or flat out drowns or gets darn near stung to death from jellyfish. I won't even get into the outta-towners who visit our beaches while on vacation with no sunscreen & too much beer. Crazy people. They're all just crazy!